Aggies survive wild final sequence to outlast Gators in nail-biter, 67-66

Press conference video courtesy of Texas A&M Athletics.

Under coach Buzz Williams, February has often been a time for Texas A&M basketball surges.

Whether that continues to be the case remains to be seen, but the Aggies (13-8, 4-4) got an incredible start to the month with a thrilling 67-66 Southeastern Conference victory over Florida (15-7, 5-4) on Saturday before a boisterous crowd of 11,797 at Reed Arena.

The Aggies trailed by 13 points in the first half and 12 early in the second half but made key plays down the stretch to take the lead.

They then sweated out 19.9 stressful seconds to end the Gators’ four-game winning streak.

Senior guard Tyrece Radford scored in the paint to give the Aggies a 67-66 lead with 32.1 seconds to play. The Aggies then forced Florida to miss two attempts from 3-point range before Solomon Washington came up with a clinching rebound as time ran out.

“Our character just showed today,” Washington said. “Even when things don’t go well for us, we find a way to win. Buzz has done that very well over the years. He put the right people on the floor at the same time, and we just got it done.”

Nobody was in the right place at the right time more so than Radford.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

Radford’s 26 points mark his second-highest output in a game this year. He scored 28 in Texas A&M’s overtime victory over then-No. 6 Kentucky last month.

On Friday, he was charged for allegedly evading arrest following a traffic incident in December. But he was in full focus on Saturday.

Radford scored a game-high 26 points, including the eventual game-winner over two much taller Florida defenders.

“He’s been through a lot,” Williams said. “I thought how he responded was other-worldly. I’m thankful for the result.”

Radford said he was thankful for the support he’d received from his coach.

“The last 24 hours for me and Buzz … me and him go way back,” Radford said. “He believes in me. I believe in him. That’s the relationship we have. Faith. Trust. Buzz is always going to be my guy for life.”

But after Radford’s pivotal shot, the Aggies still had to come up with three big stops on the defensive end.

First, Radford forced a turnover by Florida’s Riley Kugel with just under 20 seconds to go.

That might have been sufficient to seal the victory, but Wade Taylor IV, who scored 15 points, was called for traveling on an in-bounds play.

Following a time-out, Florida looked first for guard Zyon Pullin, who led the Gators with 18 points.

Hounded by Washington, Pullin lost control of the basketball. The Gators had to settle for a jump shot by guard Walter Clayton Jr. It came up short.

Florida got the rebound, but a hurried 3-point attempt from Pullin — who had to avoid a leaping Jace Carter — also came up short.

“The play that I thought they would run actually ended up being the play that they ran,” Williams said. “I drew up the play that they typically run with two forwards, and because they were playing with four guards, we changed our ball screen coverage. That ends up with Solo on ‘0’ (Pullin) in the channel.

Zoe Kelton, TexAgs

With 10 points on offense, Solomon Washington also came up with four blocks and four defensive rebounds at the other end.

“Solo’s defense was incredible in that possession, but also throughout the day. He didn’t reach. He didn’t foul. And the shot was contested.”

Recalling that last week A&M lost to Ole Miss on a 3-pointer, Washington asked to guard Pullin.

“I told them to put me on ‘0’,” Washington said. “We lost the last game on that type of shot, so I feel like I’m the best defender on the team. So I just accepted the challenge. I said I wanted him.”

Florida coach Todd Golden wanted Pullin to take the last shot, too. He said the Gators got the shots they needed.

“I’ll take a Walter Clayton pull-up and a ZP (Pullin) 3 and live with the results,” he said.

The results for A&M were somewhat surprising.

The Aggies typically rely heavily on offensive rebounds and second-chance points. They also usually need to score in bunches at the free-throw line.

Yet, they only managed six second-chance points and converted just 15-of-24 free throws.

A&M compensated with strong defense, especially in the second half when the Gators hit just 37.9 percent from the field and 23.1 percent from 3-point range.

The Aggies out-rebounded Florida 21-18 in the second half. That included a 9-6 edge on the offensive glass.

A&M also had to play considerable minutes without Taylor and Andersson Garcia, who were in foul trouble. Taylor played just over 28 minutes. Garcia played 30.

“We probably played a little more zone than we have in a long time because of the foul trouble,” Williams said. “I don’t know if we can come back without IV (Taylor) and without Andy.”

The Aggies' defense did not allow a Florida score over the last three minutes and seven seconds. The Gators' last basket was a Pullin jumper that staked them to a 66-64 lead.

A Radford free throw cut the deficit to a single point with 2:37 left. That set up his shot that gave A&M the 67-66 lead two minutes later.

“It was a team win,” Radford said. “It wasn’t just my big game. Manny (Obaseki) played big minutes. Solo (Washington) played big minutes. Everybody who played did a good job.”